


Part of Me

by neverending_shenanigans



Series: What is and what should never be (Darcy Lewis Crossovers and Fusions) [4]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Angst, Cheesy, Crossover, Crossover Pairings, Darcy Lewis Crossover Week, Drama, F/M, Fluff, Humor, Magic, Memory Loss, Romance, Tragic Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-31
Updated: 2014-08-31
Packaged: 2018-02-15 13:31:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 13,977
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2230845
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/neverending_shenanigans/pseuds/neverending_shenanigans
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Darcy had never been big on family. But something actually made her look forward to meeting her ten-year-old cousin the first time. That is, until he started talking non-sense about her being part of fairytales, evil queens and curses. And there's this madman staring at her like she had grown a third head. From there on, it just got more weird by the minute.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Part of Me

**Author's Note:**

> Posted before on tumblr,  
> Part of the Darcy Lewis Crossover Week, 2014.
> 
> Setting: Post Thor 2 (because of reasons) and at the Beginning of Once Upon a Time Season 2. When two certain ladies I will not name not to spoiler people are not around in Storybrook. It doesn’t break any canon so far, as far as I know, but it still is clearly AU.
> 
> For this one, I have to explain a couple of things. For one, it might help if you’re a bit familiar with Caroll Lewis’ stories on Alice. It might also help if you’ve seen seen season 1 and the beginning of season 2 of ‘Once Upon a Time’ for this. ‘Once Upon a Time in Wonderland’ is not required, though, as our beloved Jefferson doesn’t even really appear. Such a shame. Now on to the One Shot: the curse on Storybrooke is pretty intense and makes it troublesome to bring in new characters. So here is my take on these events: We know that Regina brought who she wanted. She chose to have Jefferson remember to punish him, to bring him along even though he was in Wonderland and not in the Enchanted Forest when the curse was awoken. Henry was able to leave Storybrooke for a while because he doesn’t have a fictional counterpart in the Enchanted Forest. So there are loopholes, right? Right. And she probably brought Jefferson because she expects she’ll have to use him right? Right. I am hereby using a loophole that works exactly the same. Regina brought a bouch of characters along that were not in the Enchanted Forest. And they were able to leave Storybrooke for a while. Now that that’s established, you may proceed. With caution. Because it’s extra-long.

**Part of me**

_Roaming through this darkness_  
I'm alive but I'm alone  
Part of me is fighting this  
But part of me is gone

[When I’m gone – 3 Doors Down]

 

Like most people, Darcy had always grown up hating Family-meetings and reunions. Her family was pretty big, too, so she was pretty sure didn’t even know most of her family. She had a cousin, for example, she had never met, and she only knew his mother from occasional phone-calls and one visit when she had turned sixteen. She also send her an apple-cake each year for birthday, which was probably a sweet gesture. Her father always insisted that she ate a piece and called her immediately after to thank the woman, however old she grew. Darcy wondered why that was. From what she knew, he didn’t like his wife’s half-sister much. Hell, not even her step-mother liked her half-sister. She rarely even talked about her, and if she did, the terms mostly used were “vain”, “bitter”, “haughty” and, weirdly enough “powerful”.

 

 

Darcy had chalked it of as sibling-issues. She didn’t like her own younger Step-brother, either. Wilbur was five years younger than she was, but, urgh. They just didn’t get along. Frankly, as much as she theoretically loved him, he was a pig. A sweet pig, if he wanted to, but still a pig who liked to cause trouble for her. Her step-mother was okay… mostly. Eugenia had a bit of issues and a horrible temper. Darcy would never fully understand what her father saw in her and what had made him marry the woman when Darcy had been five. Eugenia wasn’t particularly good looking, and the only thing that she and her father might have shared was their passion for cooking. Her father was a chef after all. But still. Enough to marry a woman with a temper such as hers? Her father claimed the only reason Darcy never really got to love Eugenia was because they had to give away her kitten when she moved in, it had turned out she hated cats. Was it a reason to hold an unforgiving grudge since childhood? Why, yes, certainly. It was also yet another reason why Darcy wondered why her father had married the woman. She didn’t trust people who didn’t like cats. Her friends back in high school, when Darcy had brought it up, had pretty much implied that her father was gold-digger, because her Step-mom was filthy rich. Darcy didn’t think her father was like that, but frankly speaking, you had to have to get paid to live with the woman. So. She firmly decided not to think too hard about it and just put it under the normal “family”-problems.

 

 

That was, until she had gotten that weird phone call from her cousin. The kid she never met. He had asked if she knew someone called “Emma”, maybe? Darcy was pretty sure she knew no-one of that name. She suspected that maybe the kid had just been curious about her, the cousin he didn’t know. Step-cousin, technically, because Darcy was so big on step-family. It was actually kind of sweet. And it was all highly weird. But, again, chalked off under ‘family’. Maybe she would have considered visiting the kid, because the conversation had been really nice for the conversation with a ten year old kid. He then had asked her if she wanted to meet him in Boston and help him find someone – which, cute, again – but she had had to decline, because she had just been back from her Internship with Jane to finally graduate. When she called before flying back to New Mexico her Aunt picked up, telling her that visiting was not a good idea for now - kind, but kind of cold, too.

 

 

It was a year later, when Darcy returned home from England for her birthday and the yearly dose of weird apple pie that she briefly talked to her aunt again. As always, she thanked her for the cake and the card and, on a whim, asked her if she could talk to her cousin. He had sounded a bit sad at the beginning, but as with ther first phone conversation, the kid soon got enthusiastic. And as with their first phone conversation, he very enthusiastically talked about some weird fairy tales. Kind of refreshing to hear that kids were still into that. Willy had never been into fairytales. It ended with her giving him her mobile number and a promise to talk again. Which they did. He called sometimes before going asleep, telling her how his day was, and telling her some more of fairytales.

 

 

She blamed it on her phone calls with the kid when she suddenly started having really weird dreams. She dreamed about working in the kitchen, with her father, only that _their kitchen was not their kitchen. There was also her kitten, and she was younger again. Her parents were fighting, and she hid under the kitchen table, the kitten pressed to her chest. They were going to take it away and drown it, because the kitten sometimes turned invisible. She loved it, though. When nobody watched, she sneaked out of the kitchen with her little one, and she ran. Her mother heard her though, and she started throwing plates, and cups and pots after her_.

 

 

Had it been only that dream, she might not have thought much about it. But she kept having really intense dreams, even as she flew back to England. Sometimes she woke at night, startled, a name on her lip that she couldn’t remember. She spend hours staring at the mirror absentminded, trying to make sense of her dreams. Even Thor noted that she looked unhealthy. She caught herself developing unhealthy sleeping habits, much like Jane’s, where she stayed up as long as she could, … as if she wanted to avoid dream. Dreams of herself as she was thirteen, only that she had a _way different haircut, and wore a weird dress. And she was meeting three boys. Whom she played with all over her dream, running around, playing pranks on others, especially her stepmother. One called himself Haigha, and he had straw in his hair, and was generally an oddball. The other had dark skin and terribly red eyes and was obsessed with tea, but he was also really smart and the tiniest of the boys. But the third one was the one that she lingered on. She was pretty sure her dream-self had a crush on the dreamy boy with the unruly hair and the blue eyes_. She could never remember his face, when she woke up, only the eyes, sometimes. Sometimes not even them. She wondered if those were actual memories her dreams kept working with, or why it all seemed so terribly familiar. She really couldn’t remember all the boys from her schools – but red eyes, really? What was wrong with her? Whatever it was, it got intense. The longer she kept having those dreams, the more often did she wake with darn headaches, like _hangovers_. She didn’t get it.

 

 

And then, on one of their phone calls, her little cousin was damn upset. Hell, he was crying, talking about her aunt – who just adopted him, as she found out now – being evil and that he now lived with his grandpa. And because Darcy already felt useless in London with Jane and Thor, and because she really thought a breath of fresh air might help against her headaches, she spontaneously announced that she would visit him. He didn’t sound convinced, mumbling something that the ‘curse will probably not allow it’ and ‘you’re not really from here, you’re not really my cousin’. But Darcy had always had this weird need of taking care of people. So she would have non of that nonsense. She told he that she booked a flight for next week, and if he could, he could scan her a road-map of the quickest roué from Portland, Mainee, Airport to this mysterious town called ‘Storybrook’ that google maps out of weird reasons decided not to want to find today.

 

 

Despite his arguments about why it wouldn’t work – what was up with that, huh? Was the kid so worried to meet her now? – her cousin did send her a scan to her e-mail, with a hand-drawn, red, marked line. Darcy had already pre-ordered a car at ‘budget.com’, a silver Dodge Avenger. Awesome. The only bad thing was that in the plane over there, she fall asleep, and had a weird dream.

 

 

Her dream was really … off. She dreamed of a man, whose face was _blurry. He held her, and whirled her, in a forest, and suddenly she was in a white dress, instead of in her red one, and there were suddenly people, and then he kissed her, and a part of her just knew it was their wedding, and he never stopped twirling them, twirling, and twirling and twirling, and the forest was gone, and the people were gone, and they were inside of a maze, and then they were in a room with thousand doors, and then there were looking glasses, and then there were the people again, and he twirled, and twirled and twirled and twirled…._

 

 

… when she woke, again, it was with a terrible headache, which always made her a grumpy driver. But at least her cousin’s map really worked. She had to turn around once or twice, because Storybrook was almost no-where on any sign and when she asked for the way, people seemed to never know it, but when she found it, it was kind of a cute town. She had also called her aunt on her way and asked her if she knew where she could stay and if she wanted to grab a coffee? The woman had faithfully send her pie each year, so it was only right that she should at least tell her that she was in town, right? Her step-aunt had sounded… tense. And told her to call if she didn’t find the place right away, even was so courteous as to warn her that Storybrook was hard to find. But she had very willingly offered her a place to stay, too. Which was awesome. She didn’t want to impose on her cousins’ grandfather. The old-man probably had his hands full with an eleven year old kid. So, whatever was going on between her step-aunt and Henry? Maybe she could help them get along. She got along with her step-mom, after all. She was the master of diplomatics. Hell, she even got along with Norse gods and had survived alien-elves and alien-robots. Fixing family-drama was not that hard, in comparison.

 

 

***

 

 

 

Darcy parked her car in front of the place called ‘Grannies’. Henry had said “if she made it” – like, really kid? She was able to read a map, thank you very much – he would be there waiting for her with his Grandpa. Which, then again, was a cute thing to do. Waiting for her all day. Darcy got of the Dodge and dusted imaginary dust of her cloths, now feeling a bit giddy about this family-reunion herself. The first one in her life that she wouldn’t hate, hopefully. She had even taken the time to pull over somewhere, in the woods on the way to town, and get changed in her car, so her clothes were wrinkle—free, mostly. She had opted for her favourite red dress, a black leather jacket, her self-knitted black scarf and her favourite black combat boots. She wanted to make a good first impression after all. When she entered, a girl from behind the counter looked up with a smile. Aside from her, the place was pretty much empty, except for one booth, with a good looking guy, who _clearly_ gave her the once-over. Well, that was a confidence boost. She complimented herself for her choice to dress-up. And then suddenly a head appeared of a kid that had been sitting with his back to her, and Darcy really had no doubt that it was Henry. She walked over to the two of them, letting her backpack glide to the ground. She grinned, the kid grinned back.

 

“Hey, cousin. Nice to finally meet the guy who’s been reading out my good-night-stories.” The kid got of from the booth, and smiled right back at her. It was sweet, how he shook her hand. “Nice to meet you, to Darcy. This is my grandpa, Charming.” Darcy did a double take, as the guy sighed, ad rubbed his face. “Er… what? You sure about that, Hun?” But with an apologetic smile ‘Grandpa’ did hold out his hand. “You can call me David. And… it’s a long, complicated story of… adoptions and…young parenthood.” Darcy gave him the thumbs up and mumbled a ‘Whatever you say’, while he brain frantically did the math. He looked like he was in his mid-thirties, at best. Probably not even that. If he had been father at, say, _sixteen,_ the kid would now be _fifteen or sixteen_. That would be one hell of a legacy if the product of teenage parenthood had turned into a teenage parent himself (herself?) and given her kid up for adoption. _Or_ had he married a woman who was way older and had brought kids and grand-kids into the marriage. Either way: _Weird_. She was not going to kick up that shindy.

 

 

She sat down at Henry’s site and when the nice looking waitress came over and cheerfully asked her what she wanted, Darcy ordered coffee and a donut. Only then did she note that Henry was eying her, weirdly, and then looking down at his book. And that David was apparently trying and failing to give her cousin the evil eye. “Err…okay. Do you want to ask something, Henry? It’s okay, shoot. It’s the first time we meet after all and I get it. I’m pretty awesome.” She winked, and Henry smiled. He kept glancing at his ‘grandpa’, though. “You know, I wonder. Did it feel weird when you came into Storybrook? Like, the moment you came over the border of the city?” Darcy blinked. Was that him asking her if she thought meeting him was awkward? He really was a weird kid. She only hoped her aunt wasn’t like that. Then again – he was adopted. Right. She shrugged. “Err, nope? I was a bit worried if I would find the place at all, after you kept telling me that it’d be impossible and all. But if you can navigate in London you can manage everywhere, I guess. They drive on the wrong side and all. But… should I? Feel weird?” Henry frowned, and it was cute how serious he looked. “I don’t think so. The curse changed, and I think it was more about people leaving in the first place. So maybe because you were gone so long it’s different for you. Are you sure that you’ve never been here before?” Darcy laughed. “Oh, the curse, right!” She winked at David. If the kid lived with him right now, he probably knew about Henry’s love for fairytales. David did smile back, but it seemed like a tired smile. Maybe he was kind of annoyed with that curse-story already? “And yep, positive. Boston, Washington, New York, New Mexico, London and now recently Portland. That’s my record so far.”

 

 

Darcy looked up as the waitress – her nametag said Ruby – brought her coke and the donut. The donut tasted like heaven, so for a moment Darcy didn’t even note that Henry was doing the glancing-back-and-forth between her and the book (which he kept hiding under the table) thing again. She swallowed and then simply leaned over. “What is that? Something you want to show me?” Henry looked uncertain. “Maybe. I think you might just not remember having been here. We would have to ask my mother, but I’m not sure I trust her right now.” David sighed. “Henry, we talked about this before.” Henry looked at him, and Darcy was kind of surprised to find that they did a very similar thing with their eyebrows. Their eyes were a bit alike as well. Maybe Henry really was blood-related to ‘Charming’, whatever might have earned him that nickname. Hopefully not his earlier-bloomer-legacy. She ate on and watched with interested, as they tried to outstare each other. “But what if she’s part of the puzzle? Maybe she can _help_ getting them back. I just need to find her in here. Maybe she’ll _remember_.” Okay. They were clearly talking about her. Henry wanted to tell her something and David didn’t want him to. She placed her chin in her hand, and kept watching, as David’s look got even more intense, and he looked positively heartbroken. He reached out one hand for Henry’s left hand, which wasn’t under the table. “Hey, look, kid. I promise you we’ll get them back, but we can’t get her involved. Your cousin Darcy has her own life to get back to.” He looked at her, with the most serious expression. “Isn’t that so, Darcy?” She shrugged. “Sure, I have my own life and all. But I rented the car for two weeks, I’m on a paid leave and all. If I can - help? I kind of owe it to Henry, I wasn’t exactly the best cousin in the world. You’re his, err, grandfather, though. If you don’t want me to help, I’ll stay way.”

 

 

Again, the intense staring continued. It was kind of amusing, really. Her little cousin was as much fun in real life as he was on the phone. And then Henry used the magic powers any eleven year old kid probably had. The puppy eyes, and the intense whining voice of ‘don’t break my heart’. “ _Please. Please_ let me _tell_ her. _”_ Darcy would have given in this second. David seemed to be able to stand up against it, though. He sighed. “I’ll make you a deal. I’ll talk to Regina, later, and if your cousin really has been here, earlier, _or_ if you really find her in _the thing_ we can tell her tomorrow. When she comes over for… cake.” He now smiled again, briefly. “And that was, by the way, an invitation.” Darcy smiled back. “Thanks. You won’t have to ask twice when it comes to cake.”

 

 

She nudged Henry with her elbow, who didn’t seem to be too happy with the deal. “If you bake half as good as your mom it’ll be awesome. I really adore the Apple-pie she sends me for my birthday every year.” Henry looked up at her as if she had grown a second head, and even David looked startled. “She what? Apple-pie? She sends you apple-pie?” “Er.. yeah? Did she never tell you? It arrives every year exactly on my birthday.” Henry didn’t really react to that. He looked at David again, and he looked so angry. Holy crap, in the middle of what kind of family drama had she gotten herself here? “ _Apple_ -pie. If that isn’t proof that she something to do with all of this I don’t know what is. Regina never does something out of kindness. She’s the evil queen!” Ouch. Okay. There was the evil word again. Really hard feelings. Darcy had never called Eugenia evil. A bit of a witch, yeah. Wicked witch of the west had been popular with her and her friends back in high school, because of Eugenia’s crooked nose. But evil queen was a whole different level of evil. Probably. David shook his head slightly. “It’s _suspicious_ , but it isn’t proof. Give Regina a chance to explain this, okay?” Darcy frowned a bit. Suspicious apple-pie. This side of her family really had it’s own kind of crazy all-right. The apple-pie had been one of the things she had always liked about her step-mother’s side of the family. “Talking about Aunt Regina. My stuff is still in the car, and Regina said I could stay with her. I kind of want to drop them off there. If you want, we can all go?”

 

 

Henry sighed the sighed of a kid frustrated with the fact that the adults never got anything in the world. Darcy knew that sigh, it was one she still did sometimes. Privilege of the people who stayed kids their hearts. It was weird to have it directed at her, though. “Yeah, okay. Better than letting you go there alone.”

 

 

 

***

 

 

 

When she arrived with Regina, her aunt didn’t look anything like the woman she had imagined. She was really classy and clearly Eugenia’s _younger_ half-sister. She was also good looking, and the only thing she shared with Eugenia was the colour of her hair and her eyes. She was also very nice to Darcy, asking her if the flight was okay, how Wilbur was doing, how England was and all the niceties people usually asked. With all the conspiracy talk in the diner she had half expected her to be evil, too. Henry kept looking at her like he did expect her to suddenly turn into a dragon all the time. David played nice, though. When he asked Regina if maybe she could remember if Eugenia had ever been in town with Darcy, for a moment, Darcy thought she saw something glistening in Regina’s eyes. It was gone within a moment, though. “In fact, now that you mention it, I think she came her for a visit once, after she and Leon married. It was all very brief and you were still very young, though. It’s no wonder you don’t remember.” It sounded normal enough, but Henry made a face as if he’d just bitten into a sour apple. Darcy was sure she heard him whisper liar, before he urged his grandpa that he wanted to go now.

 

The room Regina let Darcy stay in was big and really luxurious – being rich did seem to run in that part of the family as well – and Darcy went almost mad when Regina showed her her own private ‘little’ library. She drank tea in there with her, and they made pleasant small-talk, mostly about college or about how Henry had been as a kid, how about how her step-mother had been as a kid, before Regina had to excuse herself. She had business to attend to, after all. She also told Darcy not to wait with Dinner, it might be a while before she could be back. Darcy didn’t mind. The house was huge, the library was good, the wi-fi was stable and free. She spent at least two hours skyping with Jane and Thor – mostly with Thor, because Jane was constantly distracted by ‘SCIENCE!’ – and the rest of the evening reading fairytales, on a whim. She went to bed early, because he headaches came again, and didn’t even notice when Regina returned.

 

 

The dream was intense, though it started out kind of sweet. She was at home, with her stepmom Eugenia, sitting in front of the TV, and Darcy had her kitten her lap and was stroking it, only that when she looked down at it, it _wasn’t a kitten but a small child, almost three years old, and she simply knew it was hers. She looked at her baby girl and Eugenia complimented her. And then she made some rude remarks about the father, and she asked Darcy to come back home with her again, that this place was no place for her and for a kid. A part of Darcy knew that Eugenia meant well, that she was only looking out for her because she was her mother, but she was so angry, because why couldn’t she see that she loved him? She didn’t need fancy dresses. He had been her best friend for forever, he had never cared about who she was, he and the boys had always been there for her, and now he was her husband, and they had a daughter, and her mother should be happy for her, but instead she kept complaining, making schemes, making threats. Darcy cuddled her daughter closer and threw her mother out of her hut, angrily, telling her to never come back as long as she couldn’t accept him. She was no longer her daughter for as long as she couldn’t accept him. And Eugenia went away, and a part of Darcy knew that she would never come back._

 

 

Needles to say, when Darcy woke up, it was with a terrible headache and heartache. Regina suspected Jetlag and helpfully fetched her some aspirin, that really did work wonders. After breakfast – apple-pie that Regina made for her at one point between last night and this morning and it tasted like heaven - Henry called and asked her if she wanted to get him from school. They could eat dinner together, at Grannies, and he wonted to introduce her to a friend. No words of evil Queens or anything, which was terribly relieving. Until noon she spent her time doing a bit of shopping – not there was much she could shop for. Then she went to get Henry. He came out of the school talking to a little cute girl, that looked oddly familiar to her. Henry kept smiling broadly at her, and Darcy couldn’t keep a knowing smirk from her face. Her little cousin (adopted, step, yadda yadda) was in love. Cute.

 

 

He came over with the girl, and for an odd moment, when their eyes met, Darcy felt a bit like she was looking at a picture of her younger self. It was more like the girl was a cousin to her than Henry was. She shook the cute girls hand with a bright smile that the girl immediately returned. “Darcy, this is Paige. No, sorry, Grace, right?” The girl looked at Henry, and Darcy inwardly squealed at the cute little blush on the cute little girl’s cheek. “It’s fine. Papa calls me Grace, but you don’t have to. I like Paige as well.” Oh, double name, huh? Darcy had had a friend in college who was blessed with the wonderful name of Clarissé-Marie, and people had always been kind of weary what to call her. Darcy had straightforwardly just settled for Clammy. Just to piss her off, initially, but it had been what had turned them into quick friends. Darcy crouched down. “I’ll go for Grace, if that’s okay. That’s an awesome name. Grace is one of the things some girls will just never have – yours truly included - and you have it in your name already! I’m so jealous.” The girl beamed at her. “I like it, too.” Henry was now eager to throw in an “Me, too!” as well. Darcy pushed her hands in the pockets of her blue coat, from England, that she had gotten out for the day. “Great. So. Grace. Gonna join us for lunch at Grannies?” Hell, that kid had a cute smile. “If that is okay with you. Henry and I always eat lunch together on Wednesday’s at Granny’s, because it’s Hot-Dog-Day.” Darcy laughed, and gestured towards her car with her head. “Legit reason. I love Hot Dogs. Hop in then.”

 

 

***

 

 

 

Lunch with the two of them was very different then the snack she had had with David and Henry yesterday. Henry was different, too. He never even once brought up Regina or any weird question, or even his fairytales. He talked about School, and he praised how great Grace was in everything. Apparently she was in the schools theatre group and had persuaded Henry to join, too. Maybe this was were his obsession for fairytales came from. Grace proudly told her that her father was making the costumes for the play. He would later come and pick Henry and her up after Dinner – if that was okay, she asked, with the cute smile again – and then they were allowed to help. Henry would only stay for a bit, though, because he wanted to work on some Project with David. And later he would call her and he would show her around in town, if she wanted. All the plans! Darcy decided to just roll with it. Time passed pretty quickly, too.

 

 

Before she knew it, it was four, and the door opened. Darcy sat with her back to it, but she didn’t need to turn around to see Grace’s eye dart over there and they lit up. She almost immediately jumped up. “Papa!” Wow, that was some parent-kid-relationship to be envious of. Henry looked at her really intense, and she raised an eyebrow at him, before he turned in his seat to look at Grace and her dad, and Darcy did the same. It was cute, he had lifted her up and was hugging her like he had not seen her in years, or something. He was a good looking father. A good-looking man. She wondered what he worked as, though, because the mantle he wore and the violet scarf weren’t exactly-common-day clothing. Was there leather on his coat? And were those leather-pants? Maybe he was a retired rockstar, or something. Darcy had always had a bit of a thing for the rockstar-look, to be honest.

 

 

And then he looked in their direction, For a moment Darcy was distracted by his face, by his lips, but it could only have been a matter of seconds, because the smile fell of his face. Darcy looked into those eyes, _blue, and she had looked into them one hundred times before, so often, she had fallen in love with them in a different life,_ and she felt something in her shatter. No, she had actually accidentally dropped her glass and it had shattered. Darcy broke the eye-contact, and looked at the mess she had made. At least she had only been drinking water. What the hell was wrong with her? Sure he had pretty eyes, but that was no reason to act like she was in high school. Or like she had never seen a pretty man.

 

 

Darcy jumped up. “Oh, _bloody_ Hell. I’m a klutz. Sorry, sorry, sorry.” The girl behind the counter – Ruby, again – just laughed and waved it off. “No biggy.” Darcy crouched down to start gathering the shards, and only looked up when she heard Grace ask a slightly distraught. “Papa?” Her daddy was coming over to her. No, he was almost waltzing, to be precise, like a man with a mission. He looked terribly determined. Darcy blinked, and instinctively felt like backing down. She was frozen, though, as he simply knelt down at her site, and just went and grabbed her face with his hands. His hands were shaking, but his grip was pretty firm. Again, he stared into her eyes, and it was like he was scanning every inch of her face, or as if he was waiting for something. Darcy blinked. The hell. He was pretty and all, and he looked so, so familiar, but… rude, much? “Er… excuse you?” She leaned back, because, totally not up for a kiss with a stranger right now. And he looked like wanted to either cry or kiss her as his hands fell of her face. What was wrong with him? “How can it be? You’re dead. You _died._ He _burned_ you..” The man’s voice was pretty much a whisper, only that Darcy wasn’t exactly sure if he was whispering because he didn’t want her to hear, of the others to hear. His voice sounded a bit frantic, like he was pretty close to… er… going mad. For good measure, she whispered, too. “I think you’re mistaking me for someone else. I am very alive, thank you very much.” Still, she could barely continue to pick up the shards. Something just kept her staring at the guy, and he stared right back. Which, you know, under different circumstances? She wouldn’t complain. He looked positively hot. Even Ruby, who had come over with a Bucket and a mop, kept looking at the guy. Though clearly worried and less attracted. Get your shit together, Darce, there are kids in the room!

 

 

Darcy managed to looked up as Henry slid out of his seat to kneel at her side. He looked at the guy, too. Oh god. And he did it with his intense look. “Jefferson, who _was_ she over _there_? I think Regina did something to her, so she can’t remember and to keep her away from Storybrook.” Darcy rolled her eyes. Oh god, that conspiracy-thing again. “No one kept me from anything, Hun.” That guy – Jefferson – looked at her again. It was beginning to be a bit unnerving. She wasn’t sure what to make of that look. Then he looked at Grace, who had started coming over to them, too, placing one hand on her father’s shoulder. And then he looked at Henry. “She wasn’t from where you think she was. She was from…” She was him swallow, as if it cost him a lot to say it. “From where I was. Wonderland. But she was _dead_ for _seven years_ already when the curse came.” Darcy looked at the guy in disbelieve. Wonderland. Was he playing along with her cousin’s fairytale-thing? Was he an actor, or something? Explained the rockstar look and why he helped making the costumes for a school play. Surely he was an actor. He should have… warned her, though, before making a scene.

 

 

She looked at Grace, but the girl looked like it was completely normal for her father to talk about Wonderland. She even looked a bit excited. Perhaps this was some game she wasn’t getting. She had used to play Captain America vs HYDRA with Willbur, and sometimes even her father had played along. That had been pretty intense, too. They just didn’t normally play it in a public dinar and with strangers. Darcy threw the pieces of glass she had picked up into the bucket. “Yeah, sure, I’m from Wonderland. Why not. I’ll be the Caterpillar, though. That way I get to be a Butterfly at one point.” She grinned at Grace, briefly, if a bit forced. Her headache was back, and this was all just too weird. Then she got up, and looked at Henry, _decidedly_ ignoring that Jefferson-guy and his eyes. “You know what? You work that out, the Wonderland thing and all, sounds like your jurisdiction. Call me when you want to meet up, okay?” She ruffled through Henries hair, because she knew kids hated that – Wilbur had hated it, she had hated it, everyone hated it – and grabbed her blue coat, her knitted hat and her bag. She would go and have a talk with that David-guy about what this all was about. She didn’t mind, but it was easier to play along if she got it. Especially if Henry was so determined to involve her. Which, you know, was probably something she should feel flattered about. Seeing that up until a few days ago the kid had not even known her.

 

 

When she turned around again, that Jefferson-guy had gotten up as well. He looked at her again, with these damn blue eyes. These damn familiar eyes, which she swore she had really seen before and just couldn’t pin. Maybe she had seen him in some movie, or something. “I’m sorry I startled you. Please. Can I invite you to join us for tea, later?” Darcy blinked, almost gaped at him. One moment he spoke about Wonderland, and how she should be dead, and then he asked her for tea, and he even smiled. And it suited him. Damn, he looked good when he smiled. Just, she couldn’t help but think, his hair _should be longer_. And. Where had that thought come from. “Oh yes, please come for tea! Papa makes the greatest tea. I can show you my costume!” Darcy looked away from Jefferson – thankful for any reason to do that, really, because he really was much too intense for her and she didn’t get his act – at Grace, who was beaming up at her, seemingly completely unfathomed by what had happened. Hell, this kid was just sweet. She had always rather had a younger sister than a younger brother.

 

 

Darcy looked at the guy again, and then at Henry, who looked at her kind of hopeful. She rubbed one hand against her temple, shook her hand, and then shrugged. Whatever, right? She was the queen of rolling with things. She could do this. Maybe she could catch that Jefferson alone for a moment and could ask him to warn her before he made a scene like that again. “I, err.. yeah. Yeah, okay, sure. Tea. I will probably need something stronger, though.” The last part was something she muttered to herself, half-heartedly, but apparently he had heard her, and Jefferson laughed. It was a spontaneous, happy laugh, and somehow the sound gave her a warm, fuzzy feeling in her stomach, but still, she really couldn’t keep up with his mood shifts. “I can come and get you, later, and then we can have tea, before you show me around in Storybrook? Like we planed? Does that sound good?” Henry nodded, happily. “Grandpa knows where Jefferson’s place is, maybe you can ask him to come with you. He can come with us when we show you around.” Darcy shrugged. “Sure thing. Well. Then.” She paused, and with a bit of hesitation held out one hand to that Jefferson guy. “It was nice to meet you. I think.” Jefferson shook her hand, and there was that searching expression again. “The pleasure was all mine. I look forward to our tea party, later.” Tea party. Yeah, right. Darcy waved at the kids and then walked towards the door. She paused briefly as she opened it, looking over her shoulder back again, at Jefferson, only to find him staring at her. Not even at her ass – which she would have understood, she had a wonderful ass, and she appreciated people appreciating it – but at the back of her head. She decide to ignore the staring, but she did catch Henry’s smug grin. Clearly he was so pleased with this. She had no idea what, about this situation, could please him. She waved again. “Bye.” And then she was out, exhaling slowly. Before she got into her rented car, she looked up, at the greying heaven. “Dear Thor, please help me to survive these two weeks,” and with that muttered prayer she got in and drive of to Regina’s place.

 

 

***

 

 

 

Regina wasn’t around, which Darcy wasn’t too sad about. Her headache was worse than ever, and she really just wanted to call David and then go ahead and take a nap. David was at work, apparently, and didn’t have time to talk right now. She briefly mentioned that she had just met Jefferson, and he had behaved a bit like a lunatic, to which David replied, sounding ineptly amused, that Jefferson was known for being a mad man through and through. Which, you know, didn’t help. She also explained that he seemed to be in on Henry’s game and thought he knew her, and that she really hoped he could explain to her what was going on before he accompanied her to fetch Henry later. A moment of silence followed, but then David promised her that he, she and Jefferson really should have a talk later, maybe, and he would pick her up from Regina’s place on his way home at seven.

 

 

Darcy let herself fall on her bed pretty much the moment she hung up, and it only took her one moment to drift away to sleep. Her dream in this night was down-right nightmarish. She dreamed of standing in a meadow, at night. Someone was _holding her hand, and he asked her to trust him, just this one last time, and he kissed her hand, and they were staring at a whirling storm, and then they just jumped right into it. And then they were suddenly in a room, with many doors, that she had dreamed of before, only that they kept running. Someone was pursuing them, something big, something bad. A monster. Some part of her knew that the monster had killed a friend. He had killed the boy with the sleepy, red eyes, the clever one. She was afraid, but she kept running, running even faster, running with panic. And then she lost the hand in her hand, and she was alone. She called him, and she saw that he tried to turn, but it was too late. She burned, and then she fell, and suddenly she was on a chessboard, and she couldn’t move. She was a pawn. A pawn, a pawn, a pawn. Waiting for the Queen to beat her._

 

 

She was woken up by the doorbell, and felt disorientated for a moment. She let David in in her wrinkled clothes and he pointed out that her make-up was smeared. A look in the mirror told Darcy that she had been crying in her sleep. That was… okay. A sign that her nerves were maybe not as good as she thought they were. She redressed in plain jeans and grey shirt, her black leatherjacket from before and some killer heels (because they made her feel prepared for kicking ass, and she never got to wore them in the lab with all the spikes and whatnot) and then followed David to his truck.

 

The drive brought them out of Storybrook. Almost. It took a while, and it felt like forever. David didn’t talk much, clearly lost in his own thoughts, but Darcy didn’t complain. Her head felt like someone had repeatedly tried to blast it open with Mew-Mew. Darcy tuned out, watching the woods. She almost relaxed a bit. Storybrook really was in a nice piece of land, after all. She would have to go exploring the forest, maybe. Henry would probably like that too. But she’d only take him if he shut up about fairytales for once. Or at least about Regina or her role in it. To her, her aunt had been nicer than one could probably expect a step-aunt to be, so she really wanted to piece of the drama between her and her son.

 

 

When David pulled in on a driveway, Darcy couldn’t help but feel just slightly impressed at the white, big house. Manor. Mini-castle. Thing. She stood and examined it, and found that it was a really nice place. It also fit with her guess that he was a retired rockstar or actor. One had to have money to be able to own a thing like this. She gestured at the Ivy that covered a side of the house partially. She whistled between her teeth. “Nice house. Especially the touch of Ivy. Is that Jefferson-dude rich, or something?” David had locked the car, and shrugged. “I don’t think so. I never asked, to be honest. We’re not that close.” The front door was thrown open and Grace and Henry came out, running towards them. Grace took her hand and Henry took David’s, and they started dragging them towards the house. “First you’ll have to see the costumes. Were’ done now!” The enthusiasm of the kids amused her enough that she allowed herself to be dragged and laughed. “Yeah, sure, you don’t have to drag me, I’m not running away.” Jefferson was leaning in the doorway greeting her with a sad smile and a nod, but he looked calm, if maybe lost in thought. Very different from the guy earlier. Her greeted David with a handshake, but he didn’t get much of a chance to greet Darcy, as Grace continued tugging and dragging her, through a really classy house with awesome furniture she didn’t get to check out much, more or less directly up the stairs. She threw open a door immediately right after the stars and exclaimed a proud “Tada!” and Darcy suddenly found herself standing in the middle of a small army of mannequins, big and small ones, some dressed with wigs, and hats, and lavish dresses or fancy suits. And it was abundantly clear that they were costumes, because a hell of a lot of glitter, and tulle. And wings. And bizarre hats. Darcy blinked, and wanders through them, her fingers brushing over the fine fabrics. What distracts her, though, is for a moment the wallpaper, dark with red patterns on it, and the red carpet _only that there are not enough doors here_. It all looked kind of familiar. What the hell?

 

 

Then she turned, finding the kids looking at her with expectant expressions, David looking at the costumes like he recognized them from somewhere and the Jefferson-guy leaning in the doorway, seemingly proud. And he did have reasons to be proud. She couldn’t tell if he was an actor or a costume designer at this point. She grinned, and gave all of them thumbs up. “Awesome work. I’m very impressed. I still have no idea what your piece will be about with these…” she tugged at a piece of fairy-wings, “…and these…” raising something that looked like black horns, “…and especially that…” she put the hat with freaking bunny-ears on her hat, above her knitted hat, careful not to damage it. “…but I love it. I’ll make sure to get a first row seat if it’s on stage while I’m here. And if not, I might just come back to see it.” Henry tilted his head a bit. “You will be staying two weeks, right?” Darcy put the hat with the rabbit-ears back away, strolling back to where the kids were. “Yep. Thirteen days.” Henry nodded. “We wanted it to be ready till next week, but one of our teachers from school isn’t here right now, so maybe we won’t make it.” Henry seemed really distraught by that, and David placed a hand on Henry’s shoulder, which made Henry look up at his granddad. Darcy was almost touched by the silent communication between them. And that Henry took the absence of his teacher so hard. Then he looked back at her. “You’ll come back, though, if it’s later? Pinky promise?” Darcy snorted. She loved pinky promises. She had tried to persuade Thor for a bit that all promises on earth were made with a link of pinkies. She tried putting on a grave expression, as she linked her finger with Henry’s. “Sure. Pinky promise. I solemnly swear to come back for your play. And that I’m up to no good.” Grace seemed to be satisfied with that, too, because she turned to her father. “Can Henry and I make the tea today, Papa? You can give Darcy a tour.” David put a hand on Jefferson’s shoulder at that. “Sounds like a good idea. You know, you never gave me a tour, either, so I’ll tag a long.” There was a moment that transpired between David and Jefferson, and then Jefferson nodded, crouching down to Grace. “You can prepare everything, but don’t pour the water yet. We don’t want you to burn yourself, right?” He brushed a strand behind her ear, and Darcy almost coed inwardly. It was cute to see a man go all ‘daddy’ on a kid. And it freaked her out a bit that she thought so.

 

 

 

 

 

As soon as the kids were out of the room, David closed the door. He looked between them for a moment, and Darcy clapped in her hands, not willing to waste time on this or it could get awkward. “So. Anybody up to explaining what this whole game is about? The whole fairytale thing? Wonderland and all that?” There, he did it again, just like she thought. Like a rubber band his blue eyes snapped to her and his gaze was fixed. And as always when she was nervous, she started to ramble. “Because, you know, that was a very dramatic act in the diner and all that, and its super nice that you’re playing all with the kids and all, but it seems all kinds of crazy to me right now. So, let me in on the game and it’ll be way more fun.” David made a step towards her, his hands outstretched, like she was an animal that needed to be calmed. “Okay, Darcy, I can see why this might all seem crazy to you right now. But I want you to try and… be open minded, for a moment. Give us the benefit of doubt and I’ll try to explain it, okay? Because it is not a game.”

 

 

Not a game. Right. Darcy crossed her arms over her chest, shifting her weight. David looked like someone who was used to handling weird situations. She didn’t like it overly much that he seemed to handle _her_ like she was the odd one out here. She looked at Jefferson. His face was harder to read, but he also looked more… honest. Like he wasn’t trying to hold anything back, or handle anything. More straight forward. And right now he didn’t look to happy, as he glanced between her and David. He was still leaning in the doorway. “Oh yeah, _Charming_ , explain it to her. Because explaining it to people has worked so well for Henry. Because people here are so good in explaining. If she doesn’t remember it, she won’t believe a word.” David looked at him. “What do you propose then? Show her? We have no way of showing her. Let me do this my way, let me tell her what Henry and I found in Regina’s files, and then you can add your part of the story.” At the later part, Jefferson tilted his head, and Darcy marvelled at the rapid change of expressions on his face. He was like an open book. Something she usually only saw in kids, and, to her utter bemusement, Thor. “Regina. Of cause Regina did this. It’s always Regina. I should have shoved her down a rabbit hole years ago.” Jefferson threw his hands up, and then he walked over to his desk, pulled out a chair, and pushed it over to her. With a ironic bow and an inviting gesture, he motioned for her to sit. “Sit. This will be a while. And it’ll knock you out.” Darcy couldn’t help herself and she curtsied, before sitting down, looking at David expectantly. “Well, shoot, then.” She had no idea what to expect, but she never would have expected to meet a Norse god one day either, right?

 

 

David looked at the many dressed, before ruffling his hair. “Okay. I could start this with ‘once upon a time’, but I think I should better not. I know Henry told you of his storybook, and he read you out some of the stories, and told you other things.” Darcy nodded, encouragingly. “Well. Thing is, all fairytales and stories and myths and legends hold a grain of truth, right?” She supposed that he meant that to be a rhetorical question, but Darcy couldn’t hold back a snort. She remembered Thor, calling for his hammer, when he had just fallen from the sky. And she thought of those dark elves in London, like they had escaped from Lord of the Rings, and ripped holes into the fucking sky. “Sometimes it’s more than a grain, I have a feeling.” David squinted at her. “A feeling?” He looked almost… alarmed. Darcy laughed, made a waving gesture. “Yeah, my last year as been… pretty intense. Lines between science fiction and science fact and fantasy being blurred, and what not. You have no idea. Sorry, though. On with the speech.” David paused, and looked at Jefferson. “… yeah. I feel like I should… ask. Later.” He shook his head slightly, then he continued. “Well. Storybrook has had a very intense last year as well, and so has Henry. Henry believed that everyone in this town was under a curse. That we were fairytale-characters – or at least people, who lived their life in a way that was written down very similar in fairytale-form – and we were cursed to be human and without memory of our other life.” Darcy blinked, glanced at Jefferson, who had started pacing up and down in the room. She looked back at David. “Uh-huh. So, when he calls his mom an ‘evil queen’ he is not comparing her to one, he thinks she truly is the one from his book?” David nodded, but he looked unhappy. “Yes. He has read the stories and connected the dots. And there are pictures in his storybook, sometimes, so he recognizes people that way. No one really believed him. He was a kid with a wild fantasy and all, until he and his _real_ mother, his biological mother,… lifted the curse. We _remember_ our life now, Darcy.” She couldn’t help but stare at him. A part of her wanted to laugh, wanted to claim that he was making a joke… or that he was just,… mad. But she also remembered Jane’s pleading look when she had begged Erik to give her Theory a short – a theory about wormholes and other universes, for gods sake – and to give Thor a shot. Jane’s look had been the same, and a part of her had reacted in defending her. In defending the truth in myths, stories and folklore. The laughter pretty much died in her throat, and was choking her instead. “Remember, huh. So you’re a fairytale character, too. Charming.” He nodded sagely, but with a bit of a pained expression. “It’s not exactly like in those children’s books. It’s… some of it. It’s just… We lived it. It’s real. It’s different. The Enchanted Forest is a lot like this world, only with magic, maybe.” Darcy looked at Jefferson, who was still pacing up and down, unhappily. She looked at the costumes. Made sense for him create fairytale-y clothes then. “Is everyone here from a fairytale? Grace and Henry, too?” That seemed really impossible. Regina had been there when she had been born. Henry was eleven. David nodded, and shook his head, and then he shrugged. “Paige-…Grace yes, Henry no. But he is related, to us. It’s complicated with him. And it’s complicated with you, too.”

 

 

Darcy’s eyebrow shot up like a rocket. Whoa. “Me? What is complicated about me? I’m not even from here. I’m not a fairytale character.” David brushes one hand over his face. “You might not be. But there is a chance that you are. Henry is convinced that you are part of it. The curse on Storybrook didn’t just take our memory and the magic from us. It also made sure that no one could come to Storybrook who didn’t belong here. When you found your way here, and then told us of those apple pies Regina sent you, Henry was convinced and I didn’t want to bet against him, this time. So we looked into it. We couldn’t find anything clear, but we did find a file on you in Regina’s things. There are some confusing things that don’t add up, but there’s also your birth certificate. You were born in Storybrook, and your father sign a legal document that you wouldn’t come back here. She doesn’t keep files on just anyone. I know it sounds confusing, but we have to find out who you are. She clearly didn’t want you here, in Storybrook, and we need to know why.”

 

 

Darcy really tried to remind herself of Thor, of Loki, of Malekith. It was so easy to accept them as true, compared to what she heard. It was so easy because it didn’t really apply to her. Even when it was raining gods, she was still good old Darcy Lewis, the normal and awesome Intern. She was the side-kick to Jane. She was just… there, when things happened. Things didn’t happen to her. She looked at the pacing Jefferson, and sighed. She made a gesture. “Well, ask him. Clearly your whole story doesn’t properly apply to me, because I clearly don’t remember anything about Fairytales or some Magical Forest. He made a pretty big scene earlier, though, and seemed to confuse me for something. He said I was from freaking Wonderland. He _knew_ me.” Jefferson paused, and looked up. He looked at her, and there was such torment in his face, that she almost regretted having said anything. And then, he grabbed a had from one of the mannequins, and threw it across the room. “ _Knew_. _Knew_ being the keyword here. _She_ died in Wonderland, Darcy died _several_ years before the curse. Even Regina can’t raise the dead, not even Rumpelstielzchen was able to. I would know. I _begged_ him to bring her back, I promised him anything and he _couldn’t_. And now she’s here, looking exactly like then, looking exactly like her, she _is_ like her. It doesn’t make sense.” He stared at Darcy with such a pained expression, and a part of her felt guilty. Guilty for not remembering who he clearly thought she was. Hell, she felt guilty just for being here and being alive.

 

 

David walked over to him, cautiously, as if he expected Jefferson to start throwing things again. “Tell us the whole story. We will find out what happened. You know Regina, there has to be more to this. But we need your help, Jefferson. You have to tell us.” Jefferson looked reluctant, but then he bushed one of his hands through his hair, and he sighed, defeated. “I will kill her this time. If she has her hand in this, I will kill her.” And then he looked at the clock. “It’s almost eight. I have to bring Grace back to her ‘other’ parents. We have… an arrangement. You can go down and drink some of the tea until I’m back.” With one final look at them, he picked a hat from one of the shelves, put it on his head and was out of the door in a heartbeat.

 

 

Darcy looked after him, eyebrows raised, then she looked at David. “Huh. I see your mad man comment there, you know. He’s clearly the king of mood swings.” David smiled, a tired smile. “Well, he is the Mad Hatter, after all. Sometimes I just wonder what drove him mad. I think Regina had a hand in it.” Darcy blinked. She looked at the illuminated shelves, with two dozen hats of the same kind, and a couple of more shelves with different hats. “Should have seen that coming, I guess.” She stood up from her chair, and stretched. She looked at the costumes some more and then at David again. “Everything seems to be coming back to her. Regina. Why is she nice to me if you think she’s the evil queen who never wanted me here?” David shrugged, tilting his head from one side to the other. “I can’t tell yet, because I don’t know what role you have to play. But ever since the curse broke the rules changed. Maybe she thinks you might come in handy now. Or she can just no longer keep you away.” Darcy rubbed her temples. God, her head was killing her. She shouldn’t think too hard about it. “Right. The curse. I really don’t think I get it yet. I’m so hoping that I am that caterpillar from wonderland, though. I could use to get stoned.” At David’s slightly bewildered expression she had to laugh. “Just a joke, don’t worry. I was in college after all, don’t tell me you never did it.” David shook his head a bit. “I don’t know, I don’t think I ever did drugs. Or that I ever went to college. Our life’s here have been frozen, and a good part has been fabricated. I don’t judge you, though. It must seem very crazy to you.”

 

 

Darcy stared at him, for a bit longer this time. It’s clear that he was being god honest about it. He believed every word he said. Henry believed it too, and that Jefferson guy. Maybe she should look for that grain of truth in their story. She rubbed the bridge of her nose. “My head is really killing me. He promised tea, right? I think I really could use some. No, actually, I could use a bit of vodka. Let’s raid his fridge.” David followed her out the door and down the stairs. Jefferson and Grace were gone already as they came into the living room, but Henry sat at the couch and looked up. He had a book out, across his tights, and he looked curiously between her and David. “Did you tell her?” David grinned. “You’re really too smart for your own good. Yeah. We told her. Jefferson needs to tell us his part of the story, though.” Henry looked at Darcy, as Darcy’s eyes lit up as she saw a mini-bar. Awesome. She walked over there, and poured herself some whiskey. “So. Darcy. Do you believe it?” Darcy raised the glas and gulped the little bit she had poured herself down in one go. She blinked a couple of times, because, damn. Whiskey wasn’t exactly her thing. And then she looked at Henry, shrugging helplessly. “I don’t know? Maybe. I’m not saying it’s of the bat, because I do really think there’s more in this world than I see or get, but it’s bat shit crazy. But I’ve seen crazier stuff be true. I think. But at least I was able to _see_ it. Do you have any… proof?”

 

 

Henry held up his book a bit. “If that counts. But aside from Regina, no one here can do magic, if you mean that kind of proof.” Darcy strolled over to him, and looked at the book. He held it out for her, and she sat down on the ground, starting to flipping through the pages, with Henry and David looking over her shoulder. Mostly, she just looked at the images. The first story was that of snow-white. It was different, because Darcy didn’t remember Snow White being a thief, but it some of the elements were still there. And… Darcy blinked, raising the book a bit higher, as she reached an image of Snow White and a guy on a bridge. “Oh, hey! Is that supposed to be you, David?” David grinned a bit. “Guilty as charged. I was actually not a prince, I was just supposed to play the role of Prince James. And Snow, who is the thief here, actually was a real princess. She gave me the nickname _Charming,_ too,and it stuck.” This time, Darcy couldn’t fight the laughter down. “You’re the prince Snow White marries and you’re actually not a prince?” Henry spoke up, and he seemingly couldn’t help himself, he took the book from her and skipped a few pages on to a different picture. It showed David and Snow White on their marriage. “Marr _ied_ , actually. He became King. And I’m his grandkid, remember?” Darcy looked between the two of them, and she didn’t know why, but a part of her really wished she could just roll with it. “Oh, yeah, right. So I have Royalty in the family. That’s awesome. My best friend might become a queen by marriage sooner or later, so it’s good to know that I have a king and a prince to turn to if I need advise for wedding gifts.”

 

 

“You’re royalty yourself.” Everyone’s heads turned, as Jefferson came in. He sat down on a cushion across from Darcy, looking at her again. His eyes were really way too blue to be true. Darcy tried to distract herself, and the others, with a forced laugh. “Hah, damn. And here I wanted to be the stoned Caterpillar. You said I’m from Wonderland, right? Am I the Queen of Hearts? Because I can get behind that.” Jefferson looked like he was torn between laughing and being angry. “Glad to see that it’s a joke to you, sweetheart, but no. No you’re not, and you wouldn’t get behind that either. If you could remember.” He looked at David, briefly, before looking back at her. “If someone hadn’t taken that part of you away from you.” He took the hat from his head, and twirled it on his index finger, throwing it in the air, and catching it again, almost absent-mindedly. And then he looked at her, again, and she really wished she could just look away. His blue eyes made her head hurt. Which. Didn’t make sense. But was true. Huh.

 

 

“Your mother, Eugenia, was a sorceress. It was rumoured that She and Regina were half-sisters, but if it’s true, I don’t know which of them was the bastard child. Eugenia married and old, rich guy who died on her and left her with the title of Duchess of Heartwoodshire. Not a queen, but still powerful enough. Eugenia was lazy, had a bad temper and she was impatient, so she would never have been able to rise higher in ranks either way. She might have wanted it, but she also wanted love. And she fell in love with her own cook. Rumour had it in Wonderland, at that time, that this was when Cora broke with her daughter. Eugenia had a daughter first, that was you.” Darcy couldn’t help herself. It was eerie how well she could imagine her step-mom to be a Duchess, and how well he characterized her. “And then, five years later, she had a little boy, Wilbur.” Holy crap. He knew her brother’s name. She had never mentioned his name. Darcy glanced at her empty glass, but as he spoke on, she had to look up. “After the birth of her second child, the marriage got disharmonious. Eugenia and her cook fought often, because Eugenia tempered with magic again. She wanted to get more powerful, to gain her mother’s approval. One day she cast a spell on a litter of kittens, and all of them but one died. And then she put a spell on her own son, that would turn him into a pig whenever he started to cry. That was how her husband found out. It was quite a story.” Jefferson’s smile was wry. “And I would know. My father was Eugenia’s personal dressmaker. I found you with that only living kitten hidden in our cottage, on your family’s grounds. You were five, and I was seven, and you pleaded with me, crying, to help you protect your ‘cheeshire’ from your mother. You had a nasty bump, because she had thrown plates at you, for trying to protect the little thing, but you had held unto it fiercely.” He tilted his head, and Darcy felt goosebumps on her arms, and in her mind, her dream echoed. She _saw_ the little kitten, she saw it turn invisible, and she felt the plate hit her head as she ran away. She also saw a sad tug at the corner of his lips. “I think I fell in love with you even then. When I promised to help you, we became friends.”

 

 

“You always came back, sneaking in, to check on your loyal little kitten. You were wonderful. You were quick witted, smart, and you always spoke your mind, no matter what people thought of you. But you were also so compassionate, and so loyal. I introduced you to friends of mine, Haigha and Maurice. We were friends, as kids, but the older you grew the more duties did you have to take up. Lessons, on how to be a proper lady, so your mother could marry you off. But you sneaked away, with Haigha and Maurice and me, from time to time. We had quite a reputation. We messed with our own magic. It was in my family, after all, like it was probably in yours. We were portal jumpers. Haigha earned himself the nickname of March Hare. He was daring, and quick, and no one could follow him if he didn’t want to – but he sometimes took risks that were toe great, and he was … well, just as mad as I was. And Maurice was the Dorm Mouse. His father was a preacher, after all, and Maurice was the one who knew things, who was the best of us in sneaking in and out. And I, I was the Mad Hatter. I was the one who could open the portals.”

 

Darcy saw them. She closed her eyes, and pressed the heels of her hands on them, but the images just kept pouring into her mind. The pale, lean one, with the cocky grin and slight mad look in his eyes. His hair like straw, and his expression usually a bizarre grin. And she saw small Maurice, who was always bored of Haigha’s antics, who usually was the one to anchor them, call the off, always calmly drinking his tea and sleeping in the most weird places, because he had been up all night reading. She had been so spooked by his red eyes, though. And there was him. Jefferson. With his honest, broad smile, and his jokes, and his follies, and his pretty eyes and wild hair. He had given her freedom, and she had been so in love with him, all her life. God. _God._

 

“We were brilliant. There was nothing we couldn’t do, no where we couldn’t go, and nothing we couldn’t steal. And I was the worst of them. Because I dared to steal you.” Darcy looked up again, at his voice, fighting her own headache, fighting the pressure of an iron grip that had formed around her lungs and her heart. She could do nothing but stare at him. “If I was the Mad Hater back then, it was only because I was mad for you. And I was just some dressmaker’s son with a bit of magic. I was not good enough for your mother. Not that that would have hindered you, or me. One day you just boldly told me that you fancied me, and that you were going to steal and kiss, and you did.” Darcy stared back at him, and she felt herself blushing at the longing expression on his face. Holy mother of Thor. That really did sound a lot like her. It sounded a lot like her first kiss in high school, and like any other relationship afterwards, too.

 

“Your mother wanted to marry you off, to the Red Queen’s court, when you were sixteen. You stood up to her, you told her you didn’t want that, you wanted me. We ran away together, from everything. We left Wonderland and went to the Enchanted Forest, because we believed that your mother wouldn’t follow us there. We were always on the run, but you said you didn’t mind. You didn’t need luxuries as long as you had me, and our friends. And it was okay, for a while. There was always someone willing to pay us to go through portals. But then you became pregnant.” Darcy blinked. She what? She had a _kid?_ With him? Whoa. Whoa there. Okay. Somehow that threw her more than the rest of the story so far. But when she looked at him, and the way he looked at her, with an expression filled of bittersweet happiness it wasn’t so hard to believe. She almost wanted to reach out to him, right now.

 

 

“It was the greatest gift, and the most wonderful thing in the world, but we weren’t rich. We’ve been living mostly from hand to mouth, and how were we supposed to raise a kid like that? You couldn’t come with us anymore, it was too risky, and I didn’t want to leave you. So I quit. Haigha and Maurice continued without us, but they stayed in touch, and for almost three years we scraped by. I sold clothes and hats that I made, when I didn’t take care of Grace, and you worked wherever someone needed a scribe, or as a teacher for kids – or, really, whatever else you could get your hands on. You were always so optimistic, and I believed in it, in us. Until I came home to you, crying, with Grace in your arm. You were so upset because your mother had been there. It tore me apart, because I wasn’t able to give you or Grace the life you deserved. The life that I had stolen from you. And then Haigha came back for me. He was mad. More mad than ever. He was insane. He had Maurice had been offered a job, to steal something, a magic object. They had not know of the protection, and Maurice had died. Haigha asked me to help him do the job. If we made it, we would never have to worry for money again. You asked me not to, but how could I not have done it? It was the best shot we got. And you insisted to came along, too. You wanted to leave Grace with Haigha, and come with me. And my greatest weakness was that I couldn’t deny you anything. You had your own magic, you were the one who kept cool and came up with the plans. How could anything go wrong if I had you with me?” He interrupted his own explanation with a bitter laugh. “I was so wrong. I lost you, on that mission. We underestimated our enemy, and when he attacked, we were not prepared. We tried to outrun him, but he followed us, and for just a moment I made the error of being to distracted. I let go of you, I lost you, and he got you. He burned you, not even your ashes remained, only smoke, and I will never forget how you called out my name and the expression on your face. And I had to return to Grace without her mother. And that’s it. That’s our story.”

 

 

Silence followed, and Darcy couldn’t do nothing but stare at him. Her heart beat fast. Too fast. She heard David sigh, and she heard him speak, but it didn’t reach her. Again, her dream edged on her consciousness, images and sounds came to her like memories. She heard her own breath as she had been running, even as she pressed her hands over her ears. She saw the red carpet, like that carpet, and the walls, with the familiar wallpaper. Only that the hallways had been so endless, and they had been running, and she was the one who had let go. Because she had looked over her shoulder, had looked back. What a grave mistake. Stupidity. Because she always needed to see. She remembered as the monster, Lion-Snake-Goat afire, had reached for her, spied it’s green flames. She shook her head, slowly, her hands finding her temples, started to massage them, trying to push away the pain. She closed her eyes, desperate to recall. “No. No, I- I didn’t _burn_. _”_

 

 

When she looked up, she found Jefferson starring at her, and she saw his face becoming almost blurry for a moment. He stared at her, moth a bit agape. “What? What did you just say?” It was David who spoke, and then Henry. “Do you remember something, Darcy?” He sounded so excited. But all she could look at was Jefferson. So familiar. God, so familiar. A part of her wanted it all to be true, wanted to hold unto the story she had heard, but a part of her was also deeply afraid. She wanted to get up and go back, take the first plane to London and never thing about Storybrook again. “I think so.” She almost whispered. She felt helpless, because, how? How could she think to remember something? And only so little? And nothing, really? And why now, and not before?  

 

 

Jefferson almost jumped up from where he sat, and he marched over to her, just like he had done in Granny’s, and the he crouched in front of her. Just less determined, maybe a bit more hesitant. And he didn’t reach for her face, he placed his hands on her shoulders. “What. What do you remember?” She frowned, trying to hold unto it, though she felt the memory slipping the harder she tried to grab. “The Chimera punished me. It wasn’t really fire, it was magic. I was _changed._ I became a… a pawn. And I was on a chessboard. And there were others. For… for so long.” She shook her head, a bit, and then pressed one hand to her forehead. “Fucking hell. I don’t _know_. It was just a dream. I kept having these dreams, and I had this headache, in the last year. But it was all so vague, and ... surreal. I had all this shit going on, with Jane, and Thor, and the Dark Elves.” She looked at him, the blue yes that kept haunting her and the hope on his face, it fucking _killed_ her. “I dreamed of you. How the hell could I have dreamed of you and not even remembered it, Jefferson?” His hand went from her shoulders to her face again, cupping it, and he smiled. It was truly such a good smile. Hell, she really wondered how anyone could forget a smile like this. “It doesn’t matter. You’re here. You’re alive. The rest will come. We will find a way, sweetheart, to get you your memories back.”

 

 

Darcy wasn’t exactly quite as convinced. She had only a few pictures in her mind. It was so few and far between. She wasn’t even sure yet if she really remembered it. Only she did. It was just really bizarre. “Yeah. I would really like to get that part of me back. She sounds awesome.” It was ridiculous to see his whole face light up, and to see his eyes become so big, and so glassy. He looked at her like she was the most wonderful thing he had seen in a while. He looked at her a bit like Thor looked at Jane, and honestly, Darcy had never had anyone look at her like that. It made her heart flutter, and she couldn’t help but laugh a little. “You know, fairytale or not, you really made it all sound quite splendid. I especially liked the falling in love and running away together bit. I think we should do that again some time soon.” Jefferson chuckled at that, and it was a dark, warm sound. “Your wish is my command.” And then he leaned forward, and pressed his lips to hers. It was quick, spontaneous, sweet and over as suddenly as she had done it. When he leaned back, Darcy felt almost disappointed. Before she really could think about it, she grabbed the violet scarf around his neck, and dragged him close again, capturing his lips for another, firmer kiss. She did know that, technically, they had an audience, and she even heard Henry’s bewildered little “eww”, but she found she didn’t care much right now. For once, her headache seemed eased and far away, and she thought she almost remembered having done this before. It felt so right when she opened her lips slightly, and he responded, their tongs entangled, one of his hands finding the back of her head, and he angled his head the right way to deepen their kiss. As they parted, for air, she didn’t let go of his scarf, she just loosened her grip a little. And with her other hand, she flicked his nose, for a moment sure that it was something she used to do. The startled expression on his face confirmed it, but it was too much to wonder where that bit of knowledge had come from right now. She just grinned. “I really don’t care if they call you the Mad Hatter or not, but I do think deserve reputation as a Mad Kisser.” He leaned his forehead against hers, with a broad, slightly lopsided grin. “We’ll work on it.”

 

 

When she turned her head just a bit, to look from the corners of her eyes at Henry and David, she was a bit surprised to find the couch empty – except for the storybook. That was quite gentleman-ly of her royal relatives. As Jefferson leaned back, she let go of his scarf, and reached for the book, and put it in her lap. When she looked in his blue eyes now, it wasn’t half as painful anymore. It more or less just kind of made her smile like the goofball she was. “I think you promised tea, right? And someone left me some homework. I have some catching up to do. You could help me.” He brush one of his thumbs over her cheek, before he nodded, and got up. “Sure, sweetheart.”

 

Darcy didn’t goo back to Regina’s place that night. She spent the whole night reading fairytales, and having them read out to her, and told to her, and every once in a while she told the tales of her own life in between, until the sun rose again, an she fell asleep on the couch, her head in Jefferson’s lap, and his hat hugged to her chest.

 

 

*

**Fun Facts:**

_1) Eugenia means “Wellborn” and Wilbur means “Wild Boar”. Maurice actually means ‘dark skinned’, but I used it mostly because the latin word for ‘mouse’ is ‘muris’, which is vaguely how the name is pronounced in french._

So, in case you didn’t figure it out: Darcy’s step/mother was ‘The Duchess’ from Alice in Wonderland. You know, the one who went mad because of the pepper and hit her kid, who then turned into a … pig. The Duchess is also very fond of her cook – Darcy’s father. Of cause, as far as we know Regina doesn’t really have a half-sister. But it’s not that far off for a woman like Cora to have… a lover, in Wonderland? And the Duchess has turned her own kid in a pig. If that isn’t magic, I don’t know what is. And, no, Lewis Caroll never mentions there to be another kid. Which is, of cause, simply because he when Alice in Wonderland Darcy’s story had already happened ;)

_2) Regina makes a mean apple pie, which is why Darcy doesn’t complain that she has to eat it year for year. Give the woman some credit._

And, as for the ‘how can they be outside of storybrook’-part: My explanation is that this curse pretty much bends to Regina’s will. So because she sends a bit of story-brook on a yearly basis to Darcy and her family (aka, the apple pie, because Regina is all about apples) they can make it.

 _3) I actually did look up what kind of car Darcy could rent at the airport in Portland, Maine._ You can really pre-order on budget.com, for one, and you can pre-order an intermediate Dodge Avenger. Isn’t that kind of perfect?!

_4) Chimera’s are facts in Once Upon A Time._

We have never seen one, but in the episode "Lady of the Lake", Snow White, Emma and Lancelot have a meal at which Chimera meat is served.

 

**Futher Readering:**

[“take me to wonderland. (what? no, you’d hate it there)” by eye_eat_milo on ao3](http://archiveofourown.org/works/1978614/chapters/4282788)

There isn’t much on them aside from one, maybe two one-shots. I haven’t read this one in it’s entirety yet myself. Darcy meets the Hatter in a bar after Clint has cheated on her and she just wants to get away. And he is ever the charming guy and makes good of his promise. 3 of 4 chapters out yet.

 

**What Darcy Wears:**

[I found this picture. This is what she wears for the first meeting. Just imagine different shoes ](http://cdn.yournextshoes.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/kate-dennings-red-cutout-booties-qvc-pre-oscards-party-2-horz.jpg)

You know. Glasses. And a scarf.

[This is what she wears when she goes to Jefferson’s with David.](http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2013/03/15/article-0-18AC7E15000005DC-352_634x1014.jpg)

Just with the leatherjacket from the other outfit. And her glasses.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


End file.
